27 Weeks Pregnant … How Many Weeks to Go?

One sentence that I read today has eased my mind as we hit our 27th week of pregnancy: “While his lungs are still immature, they would be capable of functioning — with a lot of medical help — if he were to be born now.” I’ve lost sleep this week worrying about our new son, since we’ve hit a few bumps in the road on our way to his birth.

We’ve visited urgent care a couple of times recently due to bleeding (spotting, actually). We were told to go directly to urgent care with any signs of blood, so we’re doing what we have been told. Luckily there’s very little pain involved, with no signs of contractions or preterm labor. A few weeks ago we had marginal placenta previa, where the placenta appears to be migrating over the cervix and could subsequently complicate or even completely block a vaginal birth. Most recent exams show that the previa is resolving, which is good news, but some blood still leaks from the placenta, which is not good. Our surrogate/friend has some anemia to boot, which has left her feeling short on energy.

I’m a little nervous since our youngest son Dylan was 5 weeks early after our friend’s water broke while reaching for the milk in the refrigerator, so I assume that the likelihood of an early birth is greater with this pregnancy. Plus we’ve now developed a common but bothersome vaginal infection, which I found on the list of “Things That Could Cause Preterm Labor.” And all the things we’re going through one can find on the “Symptoms You Should Never Ignore” list.

Throughout this ordeal (I mean pregnancy) our new son’s heart rate has been perfect (mine is all over the place), and his size is exactly to be expected for his age, which is about 2 pounds today! Our head of cauliflower is already 14 ½ inches long from head to toe. He is supposed to be sleeping and waking at regular intervals now, but according to my friend he spends 95% of the day swimming and doing gymnastics, probably motivated from the recent Olympics.

On the cusp of the third trimester, we’re dealing with intermittent leg cramps, some back pain, a suddenly bulging tummy, and HUNGER, along with an attempt to start house remodeling, train for an October 10K running race, and gather up all the newborn boy stuff we have accumulated in storage. Oh and introduce our oldest son to the joy of kindergarten this week!

Right now it feels like when you are refilling a soap dispenser in your bathroom. You’re pouring the soap from the big bottle under the sink, and at first it’s very very slow, but as you near the top suddenly there is a rush of soap that overflows down the sides of the dispenser and onto the counter, and you wonder how you let that happen yet again. I thought I would be more prepared by now, since this is our third boy, but time is getting away from me. Hopefully now that the boys are returning to school this week I will have more time on my hands. Or soap.